Free Irrefutable by Dale Roberts

blankly. His mind was numb after last night’s confrontation with his daughter, and wife, or ghost or whatever she was, then being up all night at a crime scene.
    “Alex,” she said finally, “these cases are related. When I first started looking at this security breech, my initial thought was identity theft. A dealership like that is fertile ground for people whose identity would be worth stealing. But, something told me the motive was more complicated than that. I wasn’t sure why, it was just a feeling, but I think this confirms it.”
    “So you think our rapist is the one who broke into the files at the dealership.”
    “Yes.”
    “It would be a strange coincidence, I guess.”
    “I think that’s how he’s choosing his victims.” Rachel said.
    “If you’re right, if the dealership is his victim pool, that means he’s specifically targeting these women for a reason. But, why?”
    “That’s why I came to you. This is way out of my league.”
    Alex studied the list for several minutes. “We’ve got a profiler working on the rape cases. If these are connected, it could change the whole approach to her theory. I need to show her this list.”
    “Have you looked at the names?” Rachel asked, with a serious expression. “If this gets out, if these rapes continue, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”
    Alex scanned the file, seeing several names he recognized. “Neither would I.”
_________
     
     
    “Stop what you’re doing.” Alex said, as Liz answered the phone, “I have some new information that may change everything.”
    “What kind of information?”
    “I need to see you in person. This is becoming a very delicate situation. When is a good time?”
    “You can come now. I can always take a short break if I’m with a patient.”
    “I’ll be there in half an hour.”
     
    Alex accelerated to merge with southbound traffic on the Seminole Throughway, only to see brake lights and stopped traffic ahead. He turned the radio to a local news channel for a traffic report.
    “Cypress Village Police are investigating the abduction and rape of another local woman, the second in three days. According to sources, both attacks were similar in nature and police suspect that a serial rapist may be active in the area. The Identities of the victims have not been released. In other news…”
    Alex pounded the steering wheel. He could not believe what he was hearing. Who had leaked this to the press? Who outside the department knew about them? Rachel was the only person he could think of, other than Janet, but neither of them would talk. Janet was all too willing to talk about herself or her coworkers, but she was very professional when it came to the confidentiality of patients and victims.
    Alex wasn’t so concerned with the fact that the news was out, as he was with what Lt. Phelps’ reaction would be.
    He slowly made his way to the cause of the delay; construction on the left lane. As he passed the workers the traffic opened up and returned to normal speed.
    He entered Liz’s office and waited on the leather sofa. He had to contain the damage. It was bad enough that the news of the rapes was out, but if it became public that the cases were connected to the dealership, there would be a media frenzy that would launch this case to the national network level. He didn’t need that kind of pressure.
    The door to Liz’s office opened and a young woman emerged, her eyes red and swollen. She made brief eye contact with Alex before exiting the waiting room. Liz invited Alex to her office.
    “So what is this new development?”
    Alex handed her the files from the dealership. “Rachel Summers, the Deputy D.A., is working a case at the Mercedes/Lexus dealership where there was a breach in computer security. Some financial files were stolen. At first she thought the motive was identity theft. Then she was looking over my files on the rapes and made an interesting discovery.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Both of